ZULMEG Posted September 18, 2005 #1 Share Posted September 18, 2005 We are only two of us, first time cruising Europe on Insignia Oct. 28 05. Need help choosing private tours in most ports, which can be very expensive if we are not able to find others to share or one of Insignia's excursion packages. any advise will be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andee Posted September 18, 2005 #2 Share Posted September 18, 2005 If you list your ports, we can make better suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudiaF Posted September 18, 2005 #3 Share Posted September 18, 2005 Andee, Don't you think it would be more fun to guess?:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZULMEG Posted September 19, 2005 Author #4 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Sorry, I Forgot To List The Ports. Rome, Livorno, Sorrento Are The Main Ones We Are Interested In. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudiaF Posted September 19, 2005 #5 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Just kidding:p Zulmeg.. anyway here are the people I have personally used in those ports: for Rome Claudio Caponera of Limo in Rome http://www.limoinrome.com/home.htm for Livorno ( for Pisa and Florence or Chianti region touring) Max was our driver from Papillon Services http://www.papillonservice.com/index.htm Sorrento Marcello of See Sorrento for touring Amalfi coast, Naples etc. You can also have him take you to Pompeii ( but if you require a guide to tour you inside the gates of Pompeii you have to hire a separate guide there by law the guides must be licensed to do that ( Marcello can arrange for you) or you can get one there ( cost for that guide is anywhere from $70 to 100?) may be more not positive. http://www.seesorrento.com/seguimi_eng.html hope this helps..have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted September 19, 2005 #6 Share Posted September 19, 2005 We are only two of us, first time cruising Europe on Insignia Oct. 28 05. Need help choosing private tours in most ports, which can be very expensive if we are not able to find others to share or one of Insignia's excursion packages. any advise will be appreciated. I can definitely empathize with you... We have visited Europe several times and have taken three European cruises in the past five years (with another upcoming in July)...and we have cruised other areas many times as well... On some cruises, we have arranged our own tours...but find this considerably easier when we travel with our kids or with other people...because, from our experience, the cost, vis-a-vis the cost of shore excursions through the ship, is: Considerably less--if you have 6 (and, obviously, you get a tour with a van) About break-even, give or take a small margin of error--if you have four...and Wholly unreasonable--if you have only two... Remember, most private tours do not include admissions charges, lunches and other expenses...while most Ship excursions are all-inclusive... A MAJOR point to be aware of in Italy is that most of those private drivers ARE, BY LAW, NOT allowed to give "tours"...they can only drive you TO the Vatican or TO Pompei (or other sites) and let you off to go on your own...In Pompei, many people with private drivers end up paying an additional amount for a local guide to walk them through Pompei...The guides used by the cruise line excursions ARE LICENSED guides and give comprehensive tours at the site... A lot of folks who post on these boards will swear that they will never use the ship's excursions and that Private guides are ALWAYS the better way to go--to the point of looking down at anyone who would suggest using the ships' excursions... IMHO, that advice is ABSOLUTELY WRONG...There is no set rule...There are advantages to private guides (You can set the itinerary, shorten or lengthen your time at any site, don't have to wait for a busload of people, etc.)...But there are also advantages to ships' excursions (They handle the logistics, you don't have to find tour mates or deal with the risks involved in case of cancellation, change in itinerary, etc., you meet and get to know more of your fellow passengers) You can have an enjoyable time on a private tour and you can have an enjoyable time on a ships' excursion... And everyone's needs and requirements are different... We tend to take ships' excursions when there are only the two of us...because we cruise for the stress-free experience...we like to have someone else deal with details....and we generally don't care if we see absolutely everything there is to see, we only want to see "enough"--to get enough of an experience out of our port stop... That said, my take on the ships' excursions... First, the "packages": To me, the "Explorer" package would be preferable, mainly because it visits Pompei. For me, Pompei is a fantastic site with great history and a great story...Plus, it is the most remarkably preserved and largest in size archaeological site I've ever seen...Absolutely fascinating... Second, visiting Nice, Eze and Monaco (8 hours) is preferable to visiting just Monaco (4 hours)... Third--No contest--8 hours in Avignon and Les Baux over 4 hours in Aix... Of course, the other shot is to pick and choose from all of the choices...pick the individual excursions you want...and hire private guides where you have tour mates to defray the cost... One problem you may find is that you're getting a little too close to your sail date to get it together on private tours...Some "recommended" guides will be booked...and finding tour mates may be tough... If there is a "Roll Call" for your cruise, you might find the others on your cruise there and ask if any of them have tours already lined up and are still seeking partners--at this point, that may be the easier option...at least for the private tour route...The ships' excursions are still easier to deal with than that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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